Warmth
by MayorHaggar
Summary: Jack has never been one for snuggling, but not even the fearsome Subject Zero is immune to cold.


Jack rolled over for what had to be the tenth time in the last few minutes, muttering to herself. She wrapped the sheet as tightly around her thin frame as she possibly could, not that it was doing any fucking good. The Normandy was experiencing "minor technical problems", according to the engineers. Easy for them to say; they weren't sleeping down here in this goddamn icebox. When she ranted to Shepard about it a few days ago, he just smiled and reminded her that she was the one who chose to sleep in the bowels of the ship. It was true, but she flipped him off and stormed out anyway.

He'd made it clear that she had a standing invitation to share the cozy bed in his cabin, but that wasn't a route she was comfortable taking. His bed was for fucking, not sleeping. Sleeping with someone, as in actual isleeping/i, was something she made sure to avoid. It made her feel way too vulnerable for comfort. Bad enough that she'd let her guard down around him to the point that he knew things about her, private, personal things that she'd never told anyone before. She was dangerously close to depending on him, ineeding/i him, and she knew from experience how that ended.

Still, the fact remained that it had been unbearably cold down in her little corner of the ship for the last week or so, and tonight was the worst yet. She usually preferred to sleep nude, but she'd long since ditched that practice in favor of wearing sweatpants and a baggy N7 sweater she'd stolen from Shepard's cabin. Not even that was enough this time.

She rolled over yet again, buried her face into her pillow and grunted in frustration. By this point it was undeniable; she could not sleep down here tonight. That meant she had two options. She could try to find an unoccupied bed in the crew quarters and sleep in a room full of people who feared, mistrusted or outright disliked her, or she could take the Boy Scout up on his offer. Neither option appealed to her, but at least Shepard wouldn't cower in fear at the sight of her. Not to mention how much more comfortable his bed was compared to the standard issue beds those Cerberus bastards supplied for the rest of the crew.

Jack sighed in resignation and made her way to the elevator, which she rode directly to Shepard's cabin. There was no need to announce her presence or wait for his permission to enter, because he'd granted her full access to his private quarters. She'd freaked out when she'd realized that, doubly so when he revealed that no one else had that privilege, not even Vakarian or the Quarian, close friends of his who'd fought alongside him on the original Normandy. It implied a level of trust that frankly scared the shit out of her, but she appreciated it at the moment. With any luck he would already be fast asleep, and she could come in and sleep for a few hours and then sneak out before he even knew she was there.

That hope was dashed the moment the door slid open. Shepard was already in bed, but still very much awake. He looked over with a raised brow as she slowly stepped into the room.

"I'd ask if you were back for more, but I doubt you'd be walking around in those ratty sweatpants if you were hoping to get laid. So I'm guessing my lovable little biotic is here to snuggle," he teased. He had that annoying little amused smirk on his face, the one he only ever seemed to give when it was just the two of them. She hated it.

"Look, Shepard, don't get the wrong idea. I was freezing my fucking ass off down there so I came in here to warm up. Don't turn this into a goddamn romance vid, alright?"

"Whatever you say, Jack," he said, still smirking. She scowled at him, and he held his hands out in front of him apologetically. "Seriously though, you don't have to explain. You're always welcome to join me." He wasn't smiling now, but that didn't make her feel any better.

"Just shut the fuck up and scoot over." He did as she demanded, lying on his side and giving her plenty of room to squeeze in beside him. She got in underneath the covers and took a moment to appreciate just how damn soft his bed was. Cerberus really pulled out all the stops to try and keep the Hero of the Citadel happy. All the perks they threw at him never stopped him from calling the Illusive Man out on his bullshit, which was one of his best qualities as far as she was concerned.

"It's always nice to see a happy look on that beautiful face." Shepard's softly spoken words brought Jack back from her momentary distraction. He was smiling at her; a sincere smile, not a sarcastic smirk. Ever since they'd started this...thing, whatever it was, he often mentioned how beautiful he thought her face was. It never failed to piss her off. Stupid, sappy romantic shit.

"Kiss my ass," she said, rolling onto her side facing away from him so she wouldn't have to look at his stupid fucking face. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him so her back was pressed against his chest. Normally she would not hesitate to toss him around the room with her biotics for cuddling her like this, but being enveloped by his muscular body was doing one hell of a job at warming her up. She would allow it, for now.

"I'd be happy to kiss your sexy little ass some other time, but I'm too tired right now." She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, especially when he punctuated his statement by kissing the nape of her neck, but for whatever reason she couldn't manage a response. She just lay there in silence and allowed him to hold her.

Shepard was asleep within minutes, his chin resting on top of her head. She could feel his deep, relaxed breathing as he continued to hold her tightly while he slept. There were about a hundred different alarms going off in her head. Her instincts demanded that she throw him across the room and get as far away as humanly possible. Instead she found her eyes drifting shut. Her last conscious thought was that she would spend a few hours in here at most before returning to the secluded little corner of the ship she called home, and this would never happen again.

When she showed up again the next night he smiled and pulled back the covers for her without a word. A few nights later she didn't bother leaving after their usual evening fuck, and a couple of nights after that she moved her few possessions into his cabin. Neither of them commented on this change, and if either of them noticed that she continued to share his bed long after the "minor technical problems" were fixed, they didn't mention it.


End file.
